John E. Hood Dies at His Home in Kinston, March 1921

Prominent Kinston Man Dies at His Home There

Kinston, March 1—The funeral of John E. Hood, well known business man who died here yesterday, was held today. The services were largely attended. Mr. Hood was head of J.E. Hood & Co., conducting probably the largest drug store business in this part of the country; president of the Caswell Cotton Mills and vice-president of the National Bank of Kinston. He was connected with other enterprises here, and formerly had extensive reality holdings in Florida.

Mr. Hood was a man of good business judgment, and is said never to have made but one bad business investment in a long career. His estate is estimated by some authorities to be worth nearly a third of a million dollars. He was of a quiet disposition and possessed numerous likable traits that made him generally popular with many acquaintances. He was born at Bentonsville, N.C., in 1867. He entered the drug business at Smithfield with a brother in 1887. He attended the Philadelphia School of Pharmacy in 1887 and 1888. He became a licensed pharmacist in North Carolina in 1899. His father and three brothers were druggists.

Locating here in 1893, Mr. Hood bought out a drug store and developed the business into the largest in the state. Sylvester L. Stough, still a member of the company, became his partner in 1903. Mr. Hood became affiliated with the local tobacco and spinning interests, and acquired valuable realty holdings in the city and elsewhere. He was also a stockholder in several other manufacturing, monitary and insurance concerns.

From the Dunn Dispatch, March 4, 1921